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<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">Fred</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">I believe the reason Capital Transit's LRT line
is under FRA is because AIR there is still some minimal freight business on the
line (and beyond it to the line the Austin Steam Train uses). it must be
run under temporal separation, like the River Line in N.J., because I believe
the cars are the same or similar model Stadtlers that do not meet FRA buff
strength minimums.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">In Houston, testing started on the East End
line in March and was to last five months (don't ask me why so long!)
Presumably the line will be then ready to open? The testing does not appear to
have gone to the outer end of the line, however, and coupled with your
observation, perhaps only a part of it will open this year.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">The Southeast line testing started in
June.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">So did the downtown line's.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">All sources I have read still say all three
will open this year. We'll see.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">Dwight</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=fwschneider@comcast.net href="mailto:fwschneider@comcast.net">Fred
Schneider</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org
href="mailto:pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">Western PA Trolley
discussion</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, July 09, 2014 7:04
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [PRCo] Transit Happenings
(Not Necessarily PRCo)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><BR>No, San Antone was not left out. See where I
said nine other systems are on the drawing board or under construction.
<BR><BR>Some of those "diesel light rail lines" have been left off my list and
are on another list that a friend does
the commuter rail list.
We understand that the words light rail and commuter rail are often in the
eyes and minds of the beholder. The Austin operation is
essentially a rush hour commuter rail operation under FRA jurisdiction because
someone opened the wrong mouth. <BR><BR>Houston? You gotta
be kidding. The east line is no where being finished.
They still have a major bridge to build over a railroad that has not even been
started yet. When I looked at it March 9th, that bridge was not done and
none of the wire downtown was up, stations were not done. They are
blaming the car builder, perhaps because it is easier to blame them than the
local contractor who might just be politically connected??????<BR><BR>The San
Antonio story
this favors the rail line <BR><BR> <A
href="http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/passenger/light-rail/san-antonio-rail-can-proceed-city-ok-or-no.html?channel=61">http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/passenger/light-rail/san-antonio-rail-can-proceed-city-ok-or-no.html?channel=61</A><BR><BR>Whodathunkit
in Texas? How many people from the northeastern states can
visualize a state that has seen its population go from sagebush to urban since
World War II? It has gone from about 7 million in 1945 to 26.5
million today. I have my memories of four months assigned to Fort
Hood, Texas, in 1959
back then there were about 9.5 million in the
state. I was called into the First Stud's office one day and told
that he had heard I had been stretching class A pass limits
that I had been
going to Chicago. He reminded me that a Class A pass was valid only for
65 miles. Hey, I never hitchhiked (also illegal) farther than 1470
miles in one weekend. I figured I logged about 5,000 miles in four
months
saw St. Louis, New Orleans, El Paso, Houston, Dallas (many times),
Fort Worth, Waco, Austin San Antonio (yes, the freight motors at the Pearl
Brewery). But I also saw a lot of empty space
. miles and miles
and miles of nothing. Not this year but in 2012 I drove up from
San Antonio to Austin, Fort Hood, Temple, Dallas
and was astonished to see
that essentially all those cities had grown together
. one big city about 250
miles across. <BR><BR>Maybe somebody on this list was, like me,
stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Let me share a great story.
In the early 1940s
during World War II
a young army officer
a ROTC-TOTSY
officer
I think a looie then
was assigned to Fort Hood. He had
his wife and kid with him. It was my uncle, my dad's sister, and
my nephew. They had to find an apartment in Belton, 20 miles away
because there was no place in Killeen. In 1940 the population of
that little town next to the base was 1,268 people
yes
one thousand, two
hundred, sixty-eight. When I was there in 1959 it was about
23,000. In 2012 it was hard to find the old main street next to
the Santa Fe. The shopping area was malls out along the main
east-west highway. Estimated population today?
135,000. <BR><BR>That's texass. <BR><BR>(The picture was
taken in 2012 <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>-------------- next part --------------<BR>A
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<BR>-------------- next part --------------<BR><BR>In 1959, I remember about
30 miles of open country between Dallas and Fort Worth. Sometime
in the last 20 years, before the suspect died, Ed Lybarger and I had dinner
with Roy King, Jr. who lived in Dallas. He was telling us how, in
the 1960s when he moved to 4815 Allencrest, he would occasionally run over and
kill an occasional armadillo in his rural neighborhood at night.
Today the suburbs end about 20 miles farther north. And he was
telling us that night about driving home from Fort Worth the week before in
the rush hour and taking several hours to go 35 miles.
<BR><BR>So when the DART Red Line is extended to the airport on August 18th,
it will be their equivalent of the Paoli Local except that it runs on city
streets downtown instead of totally on private right-of-way. The
line will be about 50 miles long from DFW to downtown and then north to Plano
with 20 minute service.<BR><BR><BR>On Jul 9, 2014, at 5:31 PM, Dwight Long
wrote:<BR><BR>> <BR>> Fred<BR>> <BR>> The miraculous expansion of
tramway networks in France has been slowed somewhat by election of
conservative mayors in several cities who have axed plans for new lines.
But that does not detract from your thesis. And the new mayor in Paris
is very pro tram.<BR>> <BR>> Back in the good ole USofA, when mentioning
Texass you left out San Antonio, which has a plan and some money--but
anti-streetcar advocates are trying to get the issue put onto the November
ballot in hopes of killing it. The "Streetcar Vote Coalition" is
comprised primarily of suburbanites who want the allocated money spent on new
roadway construction in their precincts. We shall see what happens
there. There is also agitation for a tramway in Ft. Worth but it has not
progressed beyond hopes and ideas at this time. OTOH Austin has a LRT
line, albeit DMU operated, and is looking to expand same. Houston
will open two more lines before the year is out. Yeah, whodathunkit in
Texass!<BR>> <BR>> Dwight<BR>> ----- Original Message -----
<BR>> From: Fred Schneider <BR>> To: Western PA Trolley
discussion <BR>> Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2014 5:05 PM<BR>>
Subject: Re: [PRCo] Transit Happenings (Not Necessarily PRCo)<BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> Additional comments follow this
original message was moved to
the top for clarity. Yes, Herb, I liked the Jerusalem
pictures. <BR>> <BR>> On Jul 8, 2014, at 8:54 PM, Herb
Brannon wrote:<BR>> <BR>>> <BR>>> Next, I was watching all the
"happenings" in Jerusalem on CNN and noticed<BR>>> that one of the
streets shown in the broadcast had tracks and overhead<BR>>> wire. Who
would have guessed that Jerusalem had streetcars. Check out the<BR>>>
photos attached. Also, who would have guessed that it snows there. I
worked<BR>>> in Saudi Arabia, which is pretty much in the same area, and
it was always<BR>>> hot.<BR>>> <BR>>> <BR>>> --
<BR>>> Herb Brannon<BR>>> <BR>>> <A
href="http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment.jpg">http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment.jpg</A>
<BR>>> <BR>>> <A
href="http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0001.jpg">http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0001.jpg</A>
<BR>> <BR>>> <A
href="http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0002.jpg">http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0002.jpg</A>
<BR>> <BR>>> <A
href="http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0003.jpg">http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0003.jpg</A>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> And now what Fred has to
broadcast. :<)<BR>> <BR>> Whoda thunk
it? The world is moving in places we cannot go because we might
have to do it in all states at once and the politicians cannot do that.
For example, we cannot have high speed rail because we need it in California,
Texas and the Northeast Corridor but the politicians cannot give out the
federal money unless you can also give it to Idaho, Wyoming and North Dakota
and they sure as the devil don't need high speed trains. <BR>>
<BR>> Herb, a lot of the rest of the world is using light
rail today because it doesn't use oil. Jerusalem has had
that system for more two and half years. <BR>>
<BR>> <A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Light_Rail">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Light_Rail</A><BR>>
<BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91wWmvJ6kWg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91wWmvJ6kWg</A>
<BR>> <BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqys0ge339c">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqys0ge339c</A><BR>>
<BR>> My favorite example of where the world is going today is
France, which was one of the first nations to go modern and get rid of those
noisy, old, ugly streetcars. Most of their systems were gone by
the end of the 1930s ,,, Paris included. Only tiny operations
remained in Lille and St. Etienne by the era when most of us began shooting
pictures. Today? Why there are 26 systems in 25 cities
in France,. The population of France is about 64 million --- just
about the same as California and Texas put together. Can you
imagine 25 cities in Texas and California with trolleys today?
We're not even close! (We have them in Dallas, Houston,
Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles and the BART
system in the East Bay and a funded proposal to bring cars back to El
Paso.)<BR>> <BR>> The first one is in Caens, in Normandy. Is
it a bus or a trolley? Well, it is fixed guideway using a single
rail. So we have a pantograph and a rail return for
power. But the cars ride on rubber tires. OK, Not our
way of doing it but it works for them and it doesn't waste as much
oil. Because of rolling friction, the tires probably require more
energy than steel wheels on steel rails. On the other hand, it
probably stops as fast as a bus if stupid fool walks out in front of it while
texting. Guys, I'm looking for the good and the bad, not
just an argument that it doesn't look like something we worship.<BR>>
<BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiGrBzH9WTE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiGrBzH9WTE</A><BR>>
<BR>> And here is a more conventional two rail operation in Nice down
on the Cote du Azur (the Azure Coast) Makes the sounds you
want. Fantastic artistic photography
one of the best videos I've
seen of trams. The chap who shot it deserves a pat on the back.
Damed if it doesn't make me want to go there and dine on a bowl of
Bouillabaisse. (Only the French know how to make that
fantastic fish stew.) <BR>>
<BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQMHv_gYf-g">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQMHv_gYf-g</A><BR>>
<BR>> Italy had cars in Trieste, Turin, Genoa, Milan, Rome and Naples
when I first visited that country in 1961. Today?
Twelve cities. Most of us might go to Florence (Firenze), Italy to
look at the art musums. I think I want to go back to see the new light
rail cars.<BR>> <BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKv8GSSrETY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKv8GSSrETY</A><BR>>
<BR>> The United Kingdom? This was a lot like
France. In 1960, the time of my first visit, all that was left
were a three lines in Glasgow, the downtown and promenade lines in Blackpool,
Grimsby and Immingham, a little bit of Sheffield, and the Isle of Mann.
G&I and Sheffield disappeared before the army sent me home a year later
and Glasgow was gone by 1962, leaving only the promenade line in Blackpool and
the Isle of Mann. Today? Nine cities!<BR>>
<BR>> Tyne-Wear Metro started the revolution in
Britain <BR>>
<BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuI7Nmst0MM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuI7Nmst0MM</A><BR>>
<BR>> Nottingham was next. Three more lines are now on
the drawing board.<BR>> <BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd2wmx2Fk2o&list=PLMeK7Eqknvg5QmkS8uuqCmdLsMHFUzkZs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd2wmx2Fk2o&list=PLMeK7Eqknvg5QmkS8uuqCmdLsMHFUzkZs</A><BR>>
<BR>> A test train in Edinburgh, Scotland last fall:<BR>>
<BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7inHmbJgZ1E">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7inHmbJgZ1E</A><BR>>
<BR>> And the USA and Canada has gone from about 15 cities in the mid
1960s to 59 this summer when Tucson opens. An e-mail landed on my
computer this morning announcing that DART will open its line to Dallas-Fort
Worth Airport on August 18th. Nine other systems in the US and
Canada are under construction or being designed.<BR>> <BR>> But
all is not perfect. Two new operations have closed
Galveston closed allegedly because of a hurricane and Memphis allegedly
because of fires. I think that in both cases the management is
attempting to find excuses to shut down tourist or heritage operations that
were losing money hand over fist and it is much easier to blame the loses in
Galveston, where it only hauled 100 riders a day, on a storm that really
didn't damage the system. In Memphis, if you are only moving 3300 riders
a day on three lines, maybe two accidental fires that might have been motorman
error can be blamed on old cars and the cost of new ones could just be too
much. <BR>> <BR>> What is the latest complete line in
the USA? The GREEN LINE from Minneapolis to St. Paul which opened
<BR>> <BR>> <A
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou7fH_IjhfE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou7fH_IjhfE</A><BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> On Jul 8, 2014, at 8:54 PM,
Herb Brannon wrote:<BR>> <BR>>> <BR>>> Next, I was watching all
the "happenings" in Jerusalem on CNN and noticed<BR>>> that one of the
streets shown in the broadcast had tracks and overhead<BR>>> wire. Who
would have guessed that Jerusalem had streetcars. Check out the<BR>>>
photos attached. Also, who would have guessed that it snows there. I
worked<BR>>> in Saudi Arabia, which is pretty much in the same area, and
it was always<BR>>> hot.<BR>>> <BR>>> <BR>>> --
<BR>>> Herb Brannon<BR>>> <BR>>> <A
href="http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment.jpg">http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment.jpg</A>
<BR>>> <BR>>> <A
href="http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0001.jpg">http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0001.jpg</A>
<BR>> <BR>>> <A
href="http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0002.jpg">http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0002.jpg</A>
<BR>> <BR>>> <A
href="http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0003.jpg">http://mailman.dementix.org/pipermail/pittsburgh-railways/attachments/20140708/486f14ba/attachment-0003.jpg</A>
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